This invention relates to undersea launching of missiles from a submarine moving nearly normal to the centerline of the missile and more particularly to a method of stabilizing the missile to allow it to be launched from a submarine moving at high speed.
Submarine launched missiles are unstable as they travel through the water as the net lateral force (caused by angle of attack, pitching motion, and lateral acceleration) acts forward of the missile's center of gravity. For this reason, missiles have a tendency to pitch back after they are launched vertically from a submarine moving forward through the water.
Computer simulation and model tests have shown that if the missile centerline is slightly cambered as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,194, the lateral force associated with crossflow can be reduced to approach zero. However, the detachable nose cone camber overlay described therein must be jettisoned after the missile leaves the water.